Coffin



. 2 Sheets-Sheet 1. H. RICE.

(No Model.)

GOPFIN.

Patented Mar. 20, 1888:.

.. V//A "HAV b HENRY RICE,

y Wmkow Witnesses;

(No Model.) 2 sheets-sheet 2.

v H. RICE.

GOPPIN.

PatenteQ-Man 20, 1888.

. 7' 6 FTQ. 4.

` b HENRY RlcE, MWL 3 www.

N. PETERS. Phoiofmhogmpher. 'Nashiuglm D4 C.

' iiNrrnn STATES PATENT Ormea HENRY RICE, OF OASTLETON, NEW YORK,ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO FRANK P. HARDER AND JAMES R. DOW'NER, BOTH OFSAME PLACE.

COFFiN.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 379,814, dated Marcil20, 1888.

Application filed November 15, 1887. Serial No. 255,198. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom it may concern;

Beit known that I, HENRY RICE, of Castleton, in the county of Rensselaerand State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements inBurial-Caskets, of which the following is a specication.

y invention consists in providing the bottom of the casket with a seriesof slotted open ings, said casket having a movable bottom that isprovided with adj ustablesupports which are independent ofthe body ofthecasket,and which correspond in number and position tothe slottedopenings in the bottom of the casket; and the object of my invention isto provide facilities for elevating the body of a deceased person abovethe level of an open casket, so that the remains can be readily viewedfrom any direction and at a reasonable distance, without gettingdirectly over the casket, as required in the present form ofburial-Gaskets. I attain this object by the construction illustrated inthe accompanying drawings, which are here in referred to and form partof this specification, and in which- Figure l is a longitudinal sectionof the body of my casket with the cover in its suspended position andthe movable bottom raised to bring the corpse into full view. Fig. 2 isalike section of the body of the casket and cover with the movablebottom in its lowered position. Fig. 3 is an end elevation of the casketwith its cover removed from its place on top of the casket. Fig. 4 is aninverted plan view of Fig. 2, and Fig. 5 is an end elevation of thecasket with its cover secured on its top.

As represented in the drawings, A indicates the body ofmy burial-casket,which may be made in any preferred form and finished in any preferredstyle. ln the bottom of said casket there are four longitudinally-slotted openings, l, and a corresponding number of ordinaryspring-catches, 2, so arranged that one of said catches will be at theouter side of each of said slotted openings with the end of the bolt ofsaid catch projecting into the slotted opening, as shown in Fig. et.Vhen the body of the casket is made with daring sides, as shown in thedrawings guiding-strips 3 should be fixed at the inner sides of saidbody for the purpose of producing a parallel way in which the movablebottom will be guided in its movements.

B is the movable bottom that is fitted into the body ofthe casket, so asto be moved up and down therein. Said movable bottom is preferablyupholstered to correspond with the finish of the interior of the casket,and is provided with adjustable supports or legs 4, which are hinged tosaid movable bottom, as at 5, and are so arranged that they will lie inthe slotted openings 1 when thrown up, as shown in Fig. 2, and in thatposition will be secured in place by the spring-eatches 2. Said adjustable supports are adapted to swing downwardly through the slottedopenings l to maintain the movable bottom Bin its raised position, asshown in Fig. 1.

G is the cover or lid of the casket, and it is preferably attached tothe body A by means of separable hinges 6, which are connected togetherby detachable pins 7, so that said cover can be readily removed from thebody of the casket. The cover C has on its edge opposite the hinges 6hooks 8, which, when the pins 7 are inserted in the parts of the hingessecured to the body A, may be engaged over said pins to hold the coversuspended in a convenient place where it will be practically out of theway but in easy reach when required for use.

The operation of my burial-casket is as follows: The movable bottom Bbeing at the bottom of the body of the casket, as shown in Fig. 2, theundertaker, standing at one end of the casket, reaches around and drawsback the spring-catches at the corresponding end of the casket, andthereby he releases the adjustable supports 4 at that end of the casket.Simultaneously therewith he raises the end of the casket at which he isstanding, for the purpose of permitting the adj ustable supports toswing down into a vertical position. He then permits the body of thecasket at that end to return to its lower position. After this isaccomplished he goes to the opposite end of the casket and repeats theoperations just described, so as to leave the casket resting on thetrestles D, with the movable bottom B raised as shown in Fig. l. Themovable bottom B when raised is restored to its position at the lowerpart of the body of the casket in the following manner: One end of thecasket is raised until the IOO corresponding end of the movable bottombears on the bottom of the casket and the adjustable supports at theraised end are lifted clear from the trestle. The adjustable supports atthe raised end of the casket are then swung upward and secured in thecorresponding slotted openings in the bottom of the casket, and theraised end of the casket is lowered, with the corresponding end of themovable bottom resting on the upper face of the bottom of the casket,after which the oppo site end of the casket is manipulated in the' 1. Aburial-casket having a series of slotted openings formed in its bottom,and a movable bottom provided with adjustable supports which correspondin number and position to the said slotted openings, said supports beinghinged to the movable bottom, so as to swing into and out of saidslotted openings and therein fastened while in their raised position, as

and for the purpose herein specified.

2. In a burialcasket, the combination of 35 `the body of the casket andits cover connected together by separable hinges, said cover having onlits edge that is opposite to the one on which the hinges are securedhooks which are made independently of said hinges, but which are fittedto engage with the hinge-pins of the parts of said hinges that aresecured to the body of the casket for the purpose of suspending saidcover in a reversed position from the body of the casket, as hereinspecified.

HENRY RICE.

Witnesses:

WM. H. LOW, S. B. BREWER.

